September 28, 2009

Class Notes:

What would we want to know about our school/district?

School
District
· # students
· class size
· sports offered
· % free/reduced lunch
· drop-out rate
· primary languages / languages spoken
· % students going to college
· graduation rate
· infrastructure
· how safe
· teacher satisfaction
· parent satisfaction
· drug use
· diversity
· # hours spent on homework
· curriculum
· male : female ratio
· extracurriculars
· AP, SAT & NECAP scores
· scores on other national exams
· Student : teacher ratio
· budget
· sports policies
· % free/reduced lunch (compare to school)
· SES
· home prices
· teacher/staff salary
· cost of living

Differentiating between good and bad schools:

Good school
Bad school
· Small class size
· teachers who enjoy teaching
· good sports teams/plentiful offerings
· low drop-out / high graduation rates
· high standard test scores
· fun/relevant/interesting classes
· safe & convenient location
· building in good condition (clean, up-to-date)
· variety of electives offered
· funding for extras
· Large class size
· unenthusiastic teachers
· high administrator/teacher turn-over
· high drop-out / low graduation rates
· few extracurriculars, poor choice of extras
· no money
· dirty / no pride in building
· decrepit building
· out-of-date facilities/technology/books
· lack of guidance/low expectations